Our mini polytunnel kits are for building your own sturdy and long lasting mini tunnel style raised bed and crop cover. The frames can be covered with a clear polythene cover to make a mini greenhouse, with some garden mesh netting to protect against pests like cabbage and carrot root fly, or with some garden fleece for cold protection. Mini polytunnels can be fixed to raised beds to create a compact growhouse, fixed over plants on the ground with our peg system or used inside a full sized tunnel to create a heat retaining double glazing effect.
Our mini polytunnel kits have been designed to be attached, via a hinge, to a raised bed or straight into the ground using the included ground pegs. They act as a small greenhouse providing extra warmth and plant protection at a fraction of the price of a regular polytunnel or glasshouse and can be easily moved as needed. They are ideal for extending the vegetable growing season by getting started earlier in the spring before the cold weather has completely passed or by growing later in the year and overwintering. If used with a polythene cover the mini tunnel can be used ass a very effective soil warming tool.
Mini polytunnels are suitable for home gardens of all sizes, allotments, community gardens, and even inside larger polytunnels and greenhouses. They are the perfect alternative to costly, permanent garden structures. Our mini tunnels come in easy to assemble kits, and the great thing about them is that they are light and portable. They can be moved around the garden to wherever they’re needed with ease and fasten to the ground or raised bed securely so they won’t be moved by the weather. They can be covered with polythene, insect mesh, or garden fleece depending on what it is needed for.
Our tunnel kits use pressure treated timber for the frame and thick plastic tubing to create the structure. The clever bit is our unique fixing system for attaching the frame together, securing the tubular supports and fixing the poly or mesh to the frame. You can easily build a tunnel in 30 mins which will last you for many years.
We use a 2x2 wooden frame that we supply in 3ft, 4ft, and 6ft lengths, a mini polytunnel can be created with these kits for larger beds or areas of garden but we don't supply the longer timber for it. The frames are held together by corner tube supports which fix the timber at a right angles and also provide the support for the tubing. We recommend using a single centre tube support for a 6 foot tunnel but you can add as many as you like depending on the length you want to build.
Once you have the supports fixed the tubing is simply slotted in and joined in the middle by the cross piece tube connectors. The same cross piece is used at the gable end of the tunnel as they feature blunt ends which won't tear the polytunnel plastic. For a 3 foot wide tunnel you will need a meter of tubing each side for each hoop, to retain the height on a 4ft wide tunnel use 1.5m of tube. Tubing can be easily cut with a box knife to fit your size.
When you have the frame of the tunnel built you can fix a choice of coverings to the structure including polythene, enviromesh, fleece or butterfly and bird netting. All coverings are fixed to the frame using the fasteners and washers, have a look at the video to see how this is done.
Choice Of Covers
There are a few main types of cover you can add; Plastic, mesh netting, bird & butterfly netting and garden fleece. These can be changed around easily and quickly using the fasteners on the frame.
Plastic covers are usually made from a clear polythene and form a complete barrier between plants and pests, weather, and animals. It also retains heat and humidity. Good for heating the soil up proir to planting out also.
Garden Mesh Netting is used as insect netting, it keeps pests out while allowing air and water in, A net cover doesn't even have to be removed prior to watering your crops.
Garden Fleece also protects plants from pests, weather, and the elements but also insulates them from the cold at night or when the temperature dips. These covers work down to about -5 degrees.